12 Tips to Effectively Differentiate Your Social Media Content Across Platforms

Having more than one social media account for your brand may mean reaching more people, but it doesn’t mean businesses can simply post the same content to each platform. If you want to grow your audience, it’s important to differentiate your content across accounts while still ensuring everything feels cohesive and consistent.

To help you do this, 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) weigh in on the following question:

“If your business has more than one social media account, simply posting the same content to each won’t cut it if you want to grow your audience. What’s one tip you have for how to differentiate your content across your social media accounts while still ensuring everything feels united?”

Here’s what they recommend you do.

1. Know Your Audience

“Know who your audiences are on each platform and begin to develop a media plan with content that caters specifically to each channel. Just because one type of content performs well for you on YouTube doesn’t mean that it will translate well to Instagram. Research and understand your audience and the capabilities of each platform, then derive your social media strategy from that information.” ~ John Hall, Calendar

2. Stay on Message

“Staying on message is key to succeeding in an ad campaign. You can adapt a post with the same information in a different way for different platforms. Using branding, you’ll create a consistent look that can be recognized when switching from one platform to the next.” ~ Joe Morgan, Joe’s Datacenter, LLC

3. Vary How You Ask for Engagement

“One strategy we use to differentiate content across our social media accounts is how we ask our audience for engagement. We invite visitors to comment on our Facebook videos and tell us about their experiences. On Twitter, we encourage our followers to use our branded hashtag to share their thoughts. These different communication strategies lead to unique types of engagement.” ~ John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC

4. Stagger Messaging

“Unless we have a campaign that calls for a unified presence, or a timely message we believe has merit across all channels, it’s critical to diversify posts and content across pages; otherwise, it’s the same joke at five different parties. Have a solid grasp of how your unique audiences vary by channel, what tone and perspective will best resonate with them and then stagger messaging appropriately.” ~ Rong Zhang, Hirect

5. Focus on Connection in Different Ways

“On one of my accounts, I focus on my personal experiences and am more vulnerable with the copy and content. I share life experiences and pictures of me in the past and present. I also share pictures of my family and friends. On the other account, it’s more technical and informational content on how others can find more help or take action steps toward goals. Both meet the goal of connection.” ~ Givelle Lamano, Lamano Law Office

6. Create Effective CTAs

“Focus on the differences in calls to action (CTAs) on each platform. For example, trying to share polls and quizzes on Facebook won’t be anywhere near as effective as they are on Instagram, the platform they are frequently used on. Likewise, encouraging followers to use a branded hashtag to share their thoughts is most useful on Twitter. Utilize each of these CTAs where they see the most engagement.” ~ Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

7. Consider the Word Count

“To differentiate your content across social media accounts, keep the word limit in mind. For example, you need to be able to convey the same message in Twitter’s 280 characters and Instagram’s 2,200. It’s also important to use the right tone for the platform you’re on. Instagram is known to have more restrictions than Twitter when it comes to uncensored captions and posts.” ~ Jared Atchison, WPForms

8. Develop a Brand Identity

“To help you create content shared across your social media channels, here are some tips for creating a unified message. Choose a topic to focus on and make sure it’s represented in all content. Use the same tone and voice across all of your platforms. Make sure that the call to action is consistent across all of your channels. And keep the same fonts, colors and imagery throughout each platform.” ~ Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC

9. Modify Content Based on Audience Demands

“Modify your content to meet specific requirements and audience demands for each of the individual platforms. If you’re posting on Pinterest, convert the content into an infographic. On TikTok, be sure to convert it into an interesting video. On Twitter, turn it into a short but captivating tweet. Additionally, know when it’s the right time to post on each platform.” ~ Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day

10. Tailor to the Strengths of Each Platform

“Think about the strengths of each platform and create content that’s unique to each. Use a similar voice and tone, as well as have similar visuals across all platforms. Differentiate your content by tailoring it to each platform. For example, you might share shorter, snappier updates on Twitter and longer, more in-depth content on your blog.” ~ Blair Williams, MemberPress

11. Use a Design Tool to Resize Content

“An easy tip you can follow is to use a design tool like Canva to quickly resize your content for different social platforms. You can create an image or a GIF using a specific dimension and change it to match the optimal dimensions for various social networks. Then you can make a few tweaks and have a uniform message that’s still optimized across all your social profiles.” ~ Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

12. Utilize Surveys and Audience Feedback

“If you want to make your content a little different across various social media platforms, ask your audience to share their preferences through surveys and feedback forms. Each social media ecosystem is a little different. The more you know about users on each platform, the easier time you’ll have creating content and offers for these channels.” ~ John Turner, SeedProd LLC

Image: Depositphotos

This article, “12 Tips to Effectively Differentiate Your Social Media Content Across Platforms” was first published on Small Business Trends

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